ultimate_robot_archivefandomcom-20200214-history
Panic Attack
Panic Attack was a robot that competed in the British television show Robot Wars. In Series 2, it was just a four-wheel driven 20 cm high box, with a set of electrically powered 12' long lifting spikes powered by a home made system and capable of lifting a ton and ramming opponents as well to great effect. It had a zero turning circle as well as an aluminium shell. It was emblazoned with the image of a spider. This spider motif was the result of a school competition to come up with a design of "something that made you panic". A 12 year old girl designed the spider and, as a result, Panic Attack became the only sponsored robot in the field. With his prize money from Series 2, Kim built a newer machine, the one seen on TV being the fifth as it had been rebuilt four times. This one had a srimech, a new slightly angled body shape (still with battle scars from the last wars) and larger, more effective forks custom-made and imported from Sweden, which were capable of completely overturning opposing machines and lifting and pushing 81.6 kg. It also had an alloy frame and 3mm thick bodyshell. The top-mounted self-righting mechanism proved to be unreliable and was eventually replaced by a newer version after the Fourth Wars. This version had Panic Attack 2 'written on its sides as did the Series 4 version but was referred to by its original name throughout In Series 4, a set of side "skirts" were added to prevent all but the lowest of robots getting underneath it, as well as sloping sides and bulletproof fibreglass armour. The Series 5 model had improved skirts, lorry windscreen wiper motor power at up to 8 mph and the srimech was updated into a moveable flipper-like panel that could not only self-right the robot, but also either lift up opponents from underneath or clamp them between it and the chassis for additional control. This model was the favourite of the driver Kim Davies, who stated that it was, in his opinion, the best version. It also had a zero ground clearance and turning circle with durable polycarbonate added to the bulletproof fibreglass shell, making it virtually impenetrable, and pneumatic power to the electric lifting forks to enable it to lift twice its own weight. The weaponry, however was not always reliable and the self-righting was very slow. This version also had '''Panic Attack 3 '''written on its sides and was referred to as such when it contested Season 2.0 of Comedy Central's ''BattleBots. The Series 6 version was a completely new design, with silver forks and painted gold as opposed to yellow, as the team had run out of yellow paint when the time came to paint it. As a result, this model was unofficially, but universally nicknamed '''Panic Attack Gold. Although it had good pushing power, it did not have a srimech, was not as easy to control as the previous version, was slower and lighter, and generally less powerful overall. For Extreme 2, the Series 5 version was brought out of retirement, altered to have six wheels and alloy and polycarbonate construction and for Series 7, a rear skirt was added and the srimech was replaced by an anti-hammer cushioned top in response to its brutal loss in its previous Heat Final. Ironically, its final battle saw it getting flipped onto its back. The robot competed in Series 2-7 of Robot Wars, winning the second series and making the semi-finals in three other wars. It also won the "Sumo Basho" competition in Series 4, meaning that it was the only machine to defeat Shunt in this event twice. Panic Attack was one of the longest appearing robots, appearing in six wars and two Extremes. Although the only grand champion never to reach another Grand Final, Panic Attack reached the most Semi-Finals of all Grand Champions at four. Panic Attack's signature move was to use its low ground clearance to get underneath an opponent, using its forks to hook onto and get a grip inside the opponent's armour, wheel shafts or any other exposed gaps, before lifting them off the ground, driving into the pit release and lowering them down the pit. It achieved this many times, against robots including Axe-Awe, S.M.I.D.S.Y., Manta and Kat 3. Kim Davies confirmed that Panic Attack would not appear in the 2016 reboot due to him being busy. Robot History Robot Wars Series 2 Panic Attack was the first robot to compete in Heat F. In the Gauntlet, it took the centre route and, after a nervy start, made it onto the ramp. However, as it got halfway up, Sir Killalot followed and held the ramp down. Unable to turn back, Panic Attack made a flying leap off the ramp, right onto Dead Metal. After several attacks by Shunt, Panic Attack had achieved 10.8 metres, which was enough to put it in third place and into the next round, though The time-out of The Parthian Shot would have put it through anyway. In the Sumo Trial, it took its revenge against Shunt after he fell off the platform after 13 seconds, putting it through to the Arena stage. In the Arena Semi-Final, Panic Attack managed to get underneath Whirling Dervish and flip it over, before disabling Sergeant Bash. In the Arena Final against Disruptor, it managed to easily push its opponent into the pit, its body being too low for Disruptor's saw to reach. This easily saw it through to the Semi-Finals. In the Semi-Finals, Panic Attack finished in equal last place in the Gauntlet with Mace, getting stuck after just 6.9 metres. Both robots then contested the Gauntlet again at the same time, but Mace was pitted by the Sentinel so Panic Attack progressed to the next round. Panic Attack then finished first in the Pinball Trial with an impressive score of 320 points. In the Arena, Panic Attack pushed Mortis into the PPZ, and with the help of Matilda, pushed its opponent into the pit of oblivion and qualified for the Grand Final. In the first round of the Grand Final, Panic Attack pushed Killertron into the PPZ, where it was flipped over by the lance of Sir Killalot. With its opponent at the mercy of Sir Killalot, Panic Attack spent the rest of the battle attacking the house robots and managed to push Sergeant Bash into the pit, going in itself in the process. However, Killertron had long since been immobilised and Panic Attack went through. The final battle was against Cassius, and it was Rex Garrod's machine that started the stronger, driving underneath Panic Attack, sending it into the air and back onto its wheels. Cassius then attempted to attack Panic Attack before reversing and turning around, which allowed Panic Attack a run at the back of its opponent and it took this opportunity by pushing Cassius into the Pit of Oblivion, thus claiming the title of Second Wars Grand Champion despite having been the underdog for the entire series. Series 3 Panic Attack returned for Series 3, completely rebuilt since Series 2 with a stronger forklift and new self-righting mechanism. It won its first round battle by driving around, lifting up, then completely overturning Axios before overturning Matilda. Panic Attack repeated this tactic successfully against Toe Cutter in Round 2 and tried to take on Sergeant Bash. In the heat final, Panic Attack had problems getting a hold of the much faster and more aggressive X-Terminator, but eventually slammed it into the arena wall. This ruptured X-Terminator's gas canisters, disabling its axe and self-righting mechanism. Eventually, Panic Attack managed to flip X-Terminator over to progress to the semi-finals. In the first round of the semi-finals, Panic Attack came up against Thing 2. Thing 2 started well, pushing Panic Attack into a CPZ and then into an arena wall, but the champions came back, reversing into Thing 2 and causing it to be turned over by an arena spike. In the next round, Panic Attack came up against Firestorm. Both robots spent the early stages of the battle attempting to get underneath each other, but neither were able to flip the other over. This was until Panic Attack was lifted up by an arena spike, giving Fire Storm the chance to get underneath and pin its opponent against the arena wall. Panic Attack righted itself but lost out on a judges' decision and was eliminated from the competition. After the main competition was over, Panic Attack represented Wales in The First World Championship. In its first round match against 101, Panic Attack was able to get underneath its opponent and lift the robot into the air with its lifting spikes, turning it upside-down in the process. Panic Attack then picked up 101 again and, while attempting to carry 101 to the pit, it accidentally reversed in itself. Series 4 Panic Attack returned for Series 4 as the fourth seed, in recognition for winning Series 2. In the first round, it efficiently teamed up with S.M.I.D.S.Y. against Overkill GTI, lifting it up and pushing it around the arena, proceeding through on a judges' decision. In Round 2, it got hold of Saw Point very quickly and tried to lift it out of the arena, but got it stuck against the grinders. Saw Point then became immobilised and was seized by Sir Killalot, who lifted it up and took it towards the pit. Panic Attack took advantage of the now front heavy Sir Killalot, lifting it up and trying but failing to push it into the pit as Sir Killalot dropped Saw Point in. Panic Attack met up with S.M.I.D.S.Y. again in the Heat Final and had a lot of trouble catching its faster opponent until it got its forks wedged in its rival's wheel guard, allowing it to dump the Cyberspace machine down the pit. In the Semi-Finals, Panic Attack was drawn up against 10th seeds Spawn of Scutter. After lifting it up several times, it drove the Essex machine into the arena wall, stranding it there. This led to a battle against 30th seeds Stinger. Panic Attack's tough armour deflected the numerous blows Stinger administered, as it pushed the axlebot around the arena and into several CPZs. The judges had to make a decision and gave the match to Stinger by one point on a split, and extremely controversial, call. Panic Attack also competed in the Sumo Basho side-competition. It was the only robot that successfully managed to push Shunt from the platform. After 21.15 seconds, both robots fell from the platform but the replay showed that Shunt hit the ground first so Panic Attack was ruled the winner. As the only robot to actually defeat Shunt, Panic Attack won the tournament. Panic Attack later competed in the War Of Independence special. In its first round match against Rammstein, it used its forklifts to overturn the American machine several times, although this had little effect as its opponent was invertible. However, Rammstein quickly lost power (its batteries were designed to last for the three-minute matches held in BattleBots, rather than the five-minute ones held in Robot Wars), which allowed Panic Attack to lift it up and pit it. This led to a rematch from Series 2 against Mortis. Although Panic Attack managed to flip Mortis onto its side and push it into Sir Killalot, the judges gave the split decision to Mortis due to the numerous axe blows it landed. Extreme 1 Panic Attack competed several times in Extreme 1 with an improved self-righting mechanism that could also be used like a secondary weapon, for lifting and clamping purposes. Because of its status as former champion and consistent semi-finalist, it featured in the All-Stars competition, where its first fight was against Firestorm 3, the robot that ended its reign in Series 3. Within the first few seconds, however, Firestorm got under Panic Attack, flipped it over, and then pushed it against the arena wall so that it couldn't self-right. Panic Attack also competed in a Vengeance against X-Terminator and a Wild Card Warrior battle against Axe-Awe. It overturned X-Terminator, who was unable to self-right due to a new spike addition. Panic Attack then helped X-Terminator self right, before getting underneath it and pitting it. Panic Attack flipped Axe-Awe over in the Wild Card Warrior battle, but Axe-Awe was able to self-right. Panic Attack then proceeded to use its signature move to slip beneath Axe-Awe and pit it. The Welsh Panic Attack also had the chance to represent the whole of the UK in the International Inferno against Manta, Maximill and Flensburger Power. It rammed Flensburger Power once, causing it to break down, whilst MaxiMill was defeated by Manta. With the UK and US hopes remaining, Panic Attack slotted underneath Manta, and hooked it underneath its front, allowing Panic Attack to carry Manta around the arena. Upon letting go, Manta slammed Panic Attack, but once Panic Attack lifted Manta a second time, it did not let go. Matilda hit the pit release, and Manta, which was already above the pit with Panic Attack, descended. Panic Attack fought Shear Khan and Diotoir in a Mayhem qualifier. Panic Attack went after Shear Khan first in an attempt to silence the newcomer's big weapon and was successful, flipping it over and leaving it in the flames. Strangely, Diotoir didn't catch fire but was flipped anyway, and the poster of Panic Attack that Diotoir had put on its scoop was incinerated. Diotoir did not self-right and was counted down. Panic Attack tried to awaken it, but when that failed it hooked Diotoir onto its back and performed its usual manoeuvre by dropping the Dublin machine into the pit. The ex-champions then attacked Shunt, but received a yellow card from Refbot. Regardless, Panic Attack was through to the Annihilator. In the Annihilator, Panic Attack began by lifting up both Disc-O-Inferno and Hippobotamus. Napalm then drove on top of Panic Attack, but the Series 2 champions couldn't flip it and it escaped. Panic Attack then drove away from the action, before returning to the fray. It then got under The Steel Avenger and later Hippobotamus, carrying each around for a while. Panic Attack then reversed into Disc-O-Inferno, whose disc tore a small bit of armour off the Welsh robot. It then attacked The Steel Avenger and almost flipped Disc-O-Inferno, but it didn't matter because Refbot counted out the destroyed Hippobotamus. In Round 2, Napalm was forced to pull out due to damage from the first round, so the remaining four robots fought on. Panic Attack began by pushing the flipped Steel Avenger towards the arena side wall, where it eventually self-righted. Panic Attack flipped the axe-wielding robot again, just as the Welsh robot was hit by Disc-O-Inferno. Panic Attack then lifted up the invertible machine but was shoved away and driven under by Spirit of Knightmare. Panic Attack recovered, and pushed the wedge shaped robot towards the arena wall. The Steel Avenger then attacked the former champions. Panic Attack then did a bit of dodging from the other robots, before both almost shoving Spirit of Knightmare into the pit and driving into it itself. It then attacked Spirit of Knightmare again, before attacking The Steel Avenger once more. However, the robot this time got a blow onto one of Panic Attack's side skirts. The Steel Avenger was then flipped and counted out, because it wasn't able to self-right. However, Panic Attack forfeited its place in the next round, as it had been too badly damaged, its fork mechanism being damaged by Steel Avenger, and having a magnet in one of its motors removed by Disc-O-Inferno. Series 5 In Series 5, Panic Attack ran into problems with its first opponent, the fairly destructive newcomers Barber-Ous. The spinning drum managed to disable the lifting forks and mangle a bit of the top armour. However, this run ended when Panic Attack pushed it into Sergeant Bash, which disabled one of Barber-Ous' wheels. Panic Attack was then able to push it down the pit. Panic Attack moved on to fight Tiberius 2. Panic Attack was on the early attack on Tiberius 2, who got its claw into Panic Attack's weapon. Panic Attack broke free and the pushing continued. The Welsh machine then lifted Tiberius up again and pinned it to the wall. The House Robots came in and Panic Attack tried to flip Shunt over. Panic Attack then did its normal trick and dropped Tiberius down the pit, almost falling in itself. Panic Attack moved through to fight Kat 3, getting an early lift on Kat 3. However, it couldn't get loose again. Ramming at the wall couldn't free it, so Panic Attack opened the pit, but couldn't get free. Finally, however, it shook Kat 3 loose and dumped it down the pit. In the Semi-final against 2nd seeds Pussycat, Panic Attack started the stronger, pushing the pyramid shaped robot into the CPZ. However, problems with the aerial hindered Panic Attack's movement severely, making it stop and start frequently. Pussycat was able to take advantage of this, damaging the skirts and lifting forks, eventually winning a judges decision. This put Panic Attack into the loser's melee alongside Firestorm 3 and Wheely Big Cheese. However, the first attack by Wheely Big Cheese left it unable to move properly again. Firestorm eventually knocked it back into contention and spent most of the match pushing it around. A late lift-up of Firestorm in the last 10 seconds wasn't enough to save Panic Attack and it lost the judge's decision again. Series 6 Panic Attack came to Series 6 as the 8th seed. In its first battle against three veterans R.O.C.S., Corkscrew and Kronic 2, it had its skirt torn off by Corkscrew's spinning body. After the Scottish robot drove itself into the pit, Kronic 2 flipped R.O.C.S. over, giving Panic Attack a break to the next round. There, it faced A-Kill, who was unable to damage Panic Attack with any of its weapons. After a long and relatively boring fight (as described afterwards), Panic Attack managed to pit A-Kill. This lead to a match-up with Terrorhurtz. There, the former champion received numerous blows from the double-headed axe of Terrorhurtz, which damaged the top armour and began to pry it loose. When it was pushed into the CPZ, Matilda managed to break the panel clean off. Rendered immobile, Panic Attack was counted out of the Sixth Wars, before being flipped by the floor flipper and pushed onto the Drop Zone, where a washing machine was dropped on it much to the delight of the audience. Surprisingly, it managed to begin running again just as it was pushed onto the drop zone, but was unable to avoid the falling appliance. Extreme 2 Panic Attack also appeared briefly in the second series of Extreme, reverting to the Series 5 version of the robot for the Commonwealth Carnage, representing Wales. In Round 1, Panic attack went up against Cerberus, Crushtacean and Terror Turtle. Panic Attack spent the majority of the first round attacking Terror Turtle, pushing it around and dragging it by its spinning weapon, but was unable to finish it off. However, the Welsh machine went through on a judges' decision with Crushtacean. The second round was another rematch against Firestorm 4 and was fairly even with neither robot getting the upper hand until Firestorm flipped Panic Attack onto its side against the arena wall. Panic Attack tried to self-right but Refbot broke its lid when he came in to see if Panic Attack was still moving. Mr. Psycho then lifted Panic Attack up and after grilling the former champion over the flames, pitted it, Mr. Psycho was then tipped on its side by Firestorm. Series 7 Panic Attack returned for the Seventh Wars, once again seeded 8th for the competition. The Series 5 and Extreme 2 version was used, albeit without the srimech, instead replacing it with an anti-hammer cushioned top plate. In its first battle, Panic Attack was up against New Blood heat finalists Edge Hog, previous Round 1 drop-outs Spin Doctor and fellow Welsh robot Mega Morg. Prior to the battle, Panic Attack was suffering badly from technical issues, where the robot kept intermittently cutting out and then starting up again, but since the battle was about to start, there was no time to try and fix it. In the battle, despite the transmission issues, Panic Attack managed to quickly overturn Spin Doctor just by slamming into it and then it picked it up with its forks and threw Spin Doctor into the pit release. This was the end for Spin Doctor as it was then counted out. Panic Attack then teamed up with the fellow Welsh yellow robot Mega Morg to pick up and push Edge Hog into the pit. There was a great deal of cheers coming from the Panic Attack/Mega Morg control booth. This put both Welsh robots through to the next round of the Heat. In the pits, after a lot of time for repairs, the technical problems during the battle were found to be caused by a loose wire in the receiver.In the Heat Semi-Final, Panic Attack was drawn up against Dutch entrant Tough as Nails. However, Panic Attack was yet again suffering from technical problems, as the forks wouldn't go down to the floor, which put it at a disadvantage straight away. In the actual battle, unable to lower the forks, Panic Attack was only able to ram Tough as Nails rather than get underneath it, and since the forks were at an awkward angle, Tough as Nails was able to take advantage and break the forks off mid-way through the match, leaving the Series 2 champions without weaponry at all. This meant that Tough as Nails was able to dominate the pushing battle that then ensued. On several occasions, Tough as Nails was nearly able to put Panic Attack down the pit, but Panic Attack's six-wheel drive managed to halt each attack. Despite a few dodges from the CPZs by Panic Attack and also a few retaliating pushes towards the end of the battle, the battle went to a judges' decision, with the decision going in favour of Tough as Nails, eliminating Panic Attack from the competition. However, Panic Attack did later make a comeback in the All-Stars tournament at the end of the series. Its first round battle saw it go up against Kat 3, Firestorm 5 and Bigger Brother. However, in the battle, all four machines ignored each other and proceeded to attack the House Robots instead. All four immediately went straight for Shunt, leaving it overturned and immobile. The four then turned on Cassius Chrome, but as Panic Attack went in to attack it, Firestorm 5 came in from the other side, and as Firestorm tried to shove Cassius Chrome, it also scooped up Panic Attack and shoved it across the arena as well. After a while, Cassius Chrome was immobilised, but the competitors were unable to overturn it. However, Panic Attack qualified for the next round alongside Kat 3, after Firestorm 5 drove into the pit whilst attacking the Refbot and Bigger Brother following it after pursuing Kat 3. However, Panic Attack was quickly defeated in the Semi-Final stage against Dantomkia. In the battle, after a short ducking and dodging session, Dantomkia carefully lined up an attack, getting in underneath the side skirts of Panic Attack and throwing the latter over, and following that up by throwing it out of the arena. Dantomkia then went on to attack the House Robots before cease was called. This was Panic Attack's last appearance in Robot Wars. Battlebots Season 2.0 Panic Attack first match in Season 2.0 was against Gammatron. Panic Attack drove out to meet Gammatron and got hit by its saw, taking no noticeable damage. Panic Attack tipped Gammatron onto its side using it's lifting forks and pushed it onto the killsaws. The killsaws ripped Gammatron's top dome off, and Panic Attack continued to push Gammatron around the arena as it was counted out. Panic Attack won by KO at 1:10 and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced frenZy. Both robots drove out and Panic Attack was able to lift frenZy once before letting it go. Both bots drove near the killsaws, and Panic Attack lost most of its right-side skirt. frenZy began to hammer Panic Attack relentlessly, denting the top and damaging the drive train. After about a minute and a half of pounding, Panic Attack's speed controller had broken free, shorting out the electronics. As a result, Panic Attack was no longer able to move and was counted out. frenZy won by KO at 2:07 and Panic Attack was eliminated from the tournament. Panic Attack was repaired in time for the heavyweight royal rumble, minus its side skirts. Panic Attack was in the middle of the action at the beginning, attacking Nightmare and Vlad the Impaler. Panic Attack had stopped moving with 30 seconds left in the fight. However, the tournament directors had decided that the rumble should continue for another 2 minutes. Panic Attack started to move again, managing to become one of the survivors of the rumble after the extra 2 minutes had ended, before losing out to Tazbot. Live Events The Series 5/Extreme version of Panic Attack was recently taken out of retirement and overhauled back to running condition in mid-2012, with the intention of entering live events again. Its first fight was an exhibition match hosted by Robots Live! against Behemoth - during the battle, Panic Attack's srimech failed to work correctly and had to depend on Behemoth to right it. As a result, Behemoth ultimately won the fight via judges' decision, with both robots still mobile at the end. This is so far Panic Attack's first and currently last appearance in a live event. Results Wins/Losses *Wins: 35 *Losses: 16 *Draws: 1 Category:Competitors Category:UK Robot Wars Competitors Category:Heavyweight Robots Category:British Robots Category:Champions Category:Heavyweight Champions Category:UK Robot Wars Grand-Finalists Category:UK Robot Wars Semi-Finalists Category:World Championship competitors Category:Allstars Category:Sumo Competitors Category:Sumo Champions Category:Annihilator competitors Category:Robots with Lifters Category:Robots made into toys Category:Robots playable in video games Category:Robots that bore the Welsh flag Category:Robots with Mascots Category:International event champions Category:Robots that bore the UK flag Category:Commonwealth Carnage competitors Category:Loser melee competitors Category:Third Place winners Category:Robot Wars Series 2 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 3 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 4 Robots Category:Robot Wars Extreme 1 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 5 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 6 Robots Category:Robot Wars Extreme 2 Robots Category:Robot Wars Series 7 Robots Category:Robots with more wins than losses Category:Battlebots Season 2.0 competitors Category:BattleBots Competitors Category:Robot Wars Live Event Competitors Category:Robot Wars Vengeance competitors Category:Wild Card winners Category:Wild Card competitors Category:Battlebots Rumble competitors Category:Robots in The Combat Robot Hall of Fame Category:Robots from Wales Category:Robots that Won in Qualifiers Category:War of Independence competitors Category:Robot Wars Mayhem competitors Category:Robots Thrown out of the Arena Category:Charity Event competitors Category:Crowd favorites Category:UK Robot Wars Champions Category:Robots that drew Category:Exhibition Battle Competitors Category:Super-Heavyweights Category:Robots that changed weight class Category:Robots that have forfeited Category:Robots to finish in the Top 4